I'll have to check but I do know it was common in the more northerly slave states such as Virginia. Most common procedure was that the owner would sign a pass that the slave would take with him/her wherever they went, so that if they were stopped on the road they would be able to show that they had not run away (another reason why laws were on the books to keep slaves from knowing how to read/write: it's hard to counterfeit a pass when you don't know how to inscribe it).
With very rare exceptions, the slave always returned back to his/her owner.
Y'know... when one studies up on how slavery really was in the Old South, they can't help but think that we, in modern America, are far more the slaves than anyone ever was in the 1800s.
I wouldn't go that far.
A person in the 1850s would be told by his owner where to go, what to do, had no rights at the ballot box, was legally not entitled to own a firearm for self-protection, labored to provide for another who was not himself or his family... and we call that person "a slave."
A person in the early 21st Century is told by his government where to go, what to do, has his rights of free speech curtailed by "campaign finance reform" and other malarky, has people coming after him trying to take his gun away, labors for all his professional life only to see the largesse of his fruits go for the sustenance of the state with nothing vigorous for the return... and we call that person "free."